Camula Kutjara Kutjara

"Kungka, slow down, camula kutjara kutjara"
"Where nana? I see no camels"
"Wiya, udda side, four camels"
"In the scrub?"
"Wiya, on the road. You gotta slow down"

I was travelling along a dusty road at 130kmph, driving uphill. No-one could have known what was on the other side, unless of course, your name was Martha Proddy.
Martha is a wise old nana from Kaltukatjara (Docker River) a community in NT, 200kms from the WA border. Docker River is an interesting community. A community recently invaded by thousands of wild camels! And, although not long since 3000 of these camels have been culled, their population continues to increase, damaging water holes, flora, and, causing other fauna to become extinct. Docker River is a place of burnt out car wrecks, packs of camp dogs, people, and, baby camels living in unison.
Martha and her older sister, Nyinku (who was also travelling with me this day) live and work together. They produce punu (carved wooden animals), tjanpi (woven baskets and woven animals made from raffia and spinifex) paintings, and walka boards (plywood boards with burnt designs and paintings). They are dearly close and adore eachother, however, like most sisters, fight and bicker like cat and dog!

I reduced my speed as I approached the top of the crest and proceeded to drive down the other side of the dune at 80kms. After several minutes, I could see something on the road, but couldn't quite make out what it was, until I drew closer. Camula kutjara kutjara - four camels!

I'm by no means new to the paranormal or the metaphysical, nor was I hugely surprised. I was however, blown away by her connection, and her ability to tune into her country (this is where she grew up). There were seven of us travelling in my 4WD, all women, singing the songlines of Kaltukatjara, carefree, and within a split second, she saw "camula kutjara kutjara".

What I've seen of Australia's Indigenous people, is, that they are absolutely connected to their land. They absolutely know their land. They communicate with the land. They understand the land. And most importantly, they listen to the land. They hear her messages, her warnings, her gratitude.

So, what can we learn from this culture? From these people? From this land? How can we, as ordinary human beings, learn, or a better word might be "trust" our intuition, our "gut instinct" that feeling we get in the pit of our stomach that says "do it or don't it". We all have this. The thing is, do we use it? And, do we even acknowledge this part of ourselves?

See, these guys aren't worried about what other people think. They say it as they see it. They work with what they have. They don't spend time worrying about what other people think. Because, in the time they would worry about what someone thought of them for acting on a thought, message etc, someone could be travelling too fast and hit those camels!

Photo by Victoria Leontios, Tjakururu Road